Greenbuild Roundup: Day 3 Showcases Energy, Water Efficient Products

It wouldn’t be the GreenBuild Conference without a host of new energy-efficient and water-saving products showcased at many of the building supplier booths.

As an example, ThinkEco has started to accept orders from business clients for its flagship product, the modlet, short for modern outlet. This device is touted as an energy-intelligent outlet that pays for itself, on average, in less than six months by monitoring appliance-level power use, then disconnecting power to save energy, money, and CO2 when specific equipment isn’t needed.

Once a user signs up for the modlet, ThinkEco will conduct a site audit and recommend a deployment plan.

ThinkEco says the modlet rethinks how to prevent plug-load waste, which is the power consumed by plugged-in equipment when not in use. Today, more than 25 percent of the electricity that companies use goes to plugged-in equipment, and if this growth remains unchecked, the energy used by plug-loads is expected to triple by 2030, according to the company.

Organizations that implement a site-wide modlet deployment can realize a 35 to 80 percent reduction in the power consumed by each electronic device that is plugged into a modlet, which in total can reduce the overall utility bill by up to 10 percent with no change in office routine, says ThinkEco. In a pilot program with one New York company, it is projected that the modlet will save $65,000 worth of electricity per year.

In the lighting arena, Lutron, for example, highlighted several energy-saving light management products. Here’s a sampling of those products.

Lutron’s new dimmers, Diva/C•L and Credenza/C•L, work with today’s most popular light bulbs, like incandescent and halogen, but also with dimmable CFLs and LEDs, which are expected to become even more widely adopted over the next 10 years.

The new Hi-lume A-Series LED driver from Lutron is a high-performance, universal voltage driver that provides energy-efficient LED dimming smoothly and continuously from 100 percent to 1 percent of total light output. It can also integrate with a variety of lighting control products.

Lutron also has expanded the new EcoSystem H-Series Ballast line to include 347V options and a universal voltage 3-lamp version for T8 32Watt lamps. The ballasts are compatible with EcoSystem digital control components, including the EcoSystem Energi Savr Node module, GRAFIK Eye QS with EcoSystem preset light and shade controller, and Quantum. Lutron light control solutions provide full control over the lighting in any space from a single room to an entire building.

The Energi Savr Node product family is a programmable and totally modular solution for controlling light and saving energy in any commercial space. Energi Savr Node can be used to control ballasts and connect occupancy/vacancy sensors, daylight sensors and wallstations for total light management. It’s well-suited for retrofits and new construction, and each module can be installed locally, without the need to connect to a central panel.

Wireless products include the Radio Powr Savr occupancy/vacancy sensors and GRAFIK Eye QS with Wireless Technology, touted as a breakthrough energy-efficient light control product with wireless capability. The GRAFIK Eye QS is a fully customizable preset light and shade control system.

For water efficiency, Kohler is displaying products in all 5 WaterSense plumbing categories – toilets, showerheads, urinals, flush valves and bathroom faucets. Kohler has been a supporter of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense Program since its launch in 2007.

Kohler’s three major plumbing brands, Kohler, Sterling and Kallista, provide homeowners with water-conserving solutions for all bathroom plumbing.

The company’s products certified to carry the WaterSense label include (1) both single- and dual- flush high efficiency toilets with gravity, power and pressure assist flushing technologies, (2) single- and two-handle bathroom faucets in widespread and centerset installations, (3) multi-function showerheads, (4) both 1/8 gallon-per-flush (gpf) and 0.5 gpf urinal fixtures, and corresponding (5) urinal flushometers.

Kohler offers these WaterSense-labeled products in a variety of unique styles, spanning across traditional, transitional and contemporary design aesthetics.

In other Greenbuild news, BuildingGreen and the Healthy Building Network (HBN) announced that they will link their web-based green building research sites — GreenSpec and the Pharos Project — to provide one independent source for specifying green building products, information and research.

The partners unveiled a new Website, www.GreenSpecPharos.com, for immediate access to GreenSpec and Pharos from one location, and updates on joint efforts. Users can sign up for an online tour and free trials for both products. Joint memberships will be available by mid-2011.

Construction Specialties (C/S) announced that its C/S Acrovyn 4000 line of interior wall protection products received GOLD Cradle to Cradle Certification, which ensures that its material choices and production processes have been reviewed for their impact on human and environmental health, and that PBTs and PVC have been completely eliminated from the product and the manufacturing process.

Here are conference highlights from Day 1 and Day 2.